2005: The Year of the Restaurant for Yorkville?

2005 is shaping up to be one tasty year, according to the city's economic development agency. But it will also bring about big changes, including the demolition of a long-time Yorkville staple.

While discussing plans for new businesses in the city for the upcoming year, Lynn Dubajic, executive director of the Yorkville Economic Development Corporation, announced Tuesday that the owners of Tribella Bar and Grill in Batavia will build a restaurant in Yorkville this year.

Although Dubajic said she couldn't divulge many details of the plan, she said the 6,000 square foot sit-down restaurant will be located at the southeast corner of U.S. Route 34 and McHugh Road. Groundbreaking for the restaurant site will be in the spring, with completion expected by fall, she said.
"This is a dining experience that Yorkville residents and the business community have been anxiously awaiting," Dubajic said.

Representatives of the well-known Batavia dining establishment told Dubajic they also plan to build a Tribella Bar and Grill restaurant in Yorkville sometime in 2006.

Also, demolition will begin on Countryside Center, the shopping center built in 1973 as part of the Countryside subdivision project and purchased in 2003 by local developer Harold Oliver, sometime early this summer, Dubajic said.

Oliver and his firm HRM Properties have partnered with Tri-Land Properties, Inc., of Westchester, Illinois to redevelop the 32-year-old shopping center at the northwest corner of Routes 34 and 47. The firms are seeking to have the Countryside property declared as a tax increment financing (TIF) district.

Construction will also begin in 2005 on a 5,000 square foot Italian restaurant as part of the Cannonball Run development along the south side of Route 34 east of Cannonbal Trail, Dubajic said.

A 9,000 square foot retail strip center will also be part of that development, as well as an additional office building south of the Joyce Lee China Buffet building.

A 7,000 square foot casual dining pub and grill restaurant with a Medieval theme, located on the northeast corner of Route 34 and Cannonball Trail, will break ground in the spring and is expected to be completed in the fall. The restaurant, which will serve barbecue ribs, prime rib, seafood and other specialties, will also include a private dining area that can be reserved for parties.

Developers are also planning a Maciano's Pizza and Pastaria restaurant east of Union Bank and west of Ace Hardware, north of the Jewel-Osco. The 5,000 square foot restaurant, which will offer pasta and other Italian specialties, is expected to open this summer. Maciano's has four other Chicagoland locations, Dubajic said.

The Stagecoach Crossing development, located along Route 47 south of Route 71, is preparing for a spring groundbreaking and fall opening. That development includes a drive-through "specialty foods" restaurant and a separate family-style restaurant, as well as an 11,000 square foot shopping center that so far will include a convenience store and hair salon/day spa.

Menard's, Inc., is also in the negotiation process for outlots for the Yorkville Crossing development at Route 47 and Countryside Parkway. Two possible tenants include an automotive service business and a fast food restaurant, although Dubajic said she could not give names of those businesses yet. She said the firm has also signed a deal for a multi-tenant building on the northeast corner of Route 47 and Countryside Parkway.

The Opus North Coporation is planning for 300,000 square foot of retail commercial space on a 34-acre triangular parcel at the northeast corner of Route 34 and McHugh Road.

A 24,000 square foot shopping center is also going to locate at the southwest corner of Route 34 and Sycamore Street, near the entrance of the Fox Hill subdivision. Dubajic said groundbreaking on that development will be in February with a completion sometime this summer.

HRM Properties is also going to develop the former site of the Cozy Corner restaurant into a 10,000 to 12,000 square foot shopping center, with a "small anchor" store, Dubajic said.

Also, UP Development, developers of the former Yorkville Mobil gas station site at the southeast corner of Routes 34 and 47, is completing environmental studies at this time and will "continue the development process" into 2005, Dubajic said.

Dubajic said she also anticipates a number of large retail firms to make announcements or at least decisions on locating in Yorkville.

"There are many nationally known big box retailers who are continuing research on our community," she said. "The projected growth has raised awareness about our community to these users, and I would anticipate that 2005 will be a year when decisions will be made about future locations in Yorkville."